Who Is Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees?

The Secret Life of Bees is the first novel by Sue Monk Kidd as well as one of my favorite books. As an adolescent myself when I first read my book, I believe that the writer clearly portrays the psychological development of Lily which is influenced by her social environment. Through this paper, I will describe bio/psycho/social factors that have played different roles in a young girl, Lily Owens’ life who is also the main character of the novel, in searching her identity at her adolescence period as she transitions from childhood to adulthood. Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, a motherless fourteen year old white girl raised by a cruel father, T. Ray, who is a peach farmer. At the center of Lily’s fourteen year old life, there is a horrible memory

T. Ray often makes Lily kneel on the grits for hours and as Lily tries to look (and become) like her mother, (out of his love for his deceased wife,) T. Ray mocks at Lily’s willingness to be smart and attractive. He also makes Lily work on his farm for hours, after school and over the summer so that she cannot read books (which is her hobby), and uses mean words for his daughter. “Although …peers, and …culture influence children, parents still hold more sway than they think when it comes to having an impact on a daughter's developing self-esteem.” (Gurian, 2014) According to Dr. Gurian, dads who are involved in the lives of their daughter can impact their daughter’s self-esteem. T. Ray’s negative involvement in Lily’s life, his behavior makes Lily feel even guiltier and she turns into an introverted person; Lily becomes a non-confident girl due to lack of support from her father (who is the only parent that she has) unlike other children. She calls her father by name, not by saying